PDC Masters 1st Round Tips and Preview

The PDC Masters 1st round starts later this evening in Milton Keynes. Our darts betting expert James Punt, fresh from a profitable PDC World Championship, will be previewing every single match. Check out his free tips for tonight’s action below…

Ian White vs. Mensur Suljovic

The lesser spotted Suljovic made a brief appearance at Ally Pally for the World Championship. He has never done well there, and this year was no exception. He won 3-1 and played well against Matt Edgar in the second round but lost a controversial match against Gary Anderson 3-4 in the third. Suljovic employed a go-slow tactic against Anderson, because he knows Anderson hates slow play. The problem was, while it knocked Anderson out of his stride, it also knocked Suljovic out of his. He was trying so hard to be slow that he played rubbish and averaged just 89.8.

Suljovic withdrew from the Players Championship finals, hadn’t qualified for the Grand Slam so his only competitive matches since October where those two at Ally Pally. He had reached the semi-final of the International Darts Open in late October and the semi-final of the European Darts Grand Prix the preceding weekend but just as he had hit form, he virtually stopped playing. You would think he might be a bit rustier than much of the field this weekend.

Ian White fell at the first fence at Ally Pally. He played very well, averaged 102, but lost 1-3 to Kim Huybrechts. White now holds the record for the two highest losing second round averages in the World Championship. He doesn’t have a great record in this event having played five and lost five. Maybe he doesn’t play well after a break? Suljovic on the other hand has played eight and won four.

Suljovic has the better H2H record and while he has now dropped out of the top 20, he can take advantage of Whites flakey stage form and win the match.

PDC Masters 1st Round: 1 point Mensur Suljovic to win @ 2.10 with generally available

Glen Durrant vs. Merv King

We have backed King to go on and win the quarter, but this is a tricky opener. Glen Durrant took two weeks away from darts after losing to Dirk van Duijvenbode in the fourth round at Ally Pally. He was glad to have won two matches after his dire post Covid form, but the reality was he played rubbish when beating Portella in the second round, ok against Baggish in the third and he only averaged 90.7 when losing to Duijvenbode. He says the break has rekindled his hunger and he is out to start winning matches and rebuild his confidence.

Merv King on the other hand has been in great form for a while. On the Euro tour he reached the semi-final of the German Darts Championship in late September and was runner up in the Players Championship finals in late November. He was knocked out of the World Championship by Gerwyn Price in the fourth round, but he played well and averaged 100.1 across his three matches. He has won seven of his last nine matches and is enjoying himself.

Durrant is the 1.90 favourite, King a marginal outsider at 2.00. Hopefully, King can keep his good scoring going and move through to the next round.

Dimitri van den Bergh vs. Chris Dobey

Chris Dobey showed a bit of form at the World Championship, beating Jeff Smith 3-2 having been down 0-2 down, but he then lost 1-4 to Daryl Gurney. Dobey played well and averaged 99 but Superchin was on top form that day. Outside of that, Dobey had not been in great form, losing six of his last nine matches.

Van den Bergh has won seven of his last ten, played well at Ally Pally, averaging over 100 across his three matches and was unlucky to come up against Dave Chisnall in top form in the fourth round. He was a semi-finalist at the Grand Slam and of course won the World Matchplay in the summer.

You can never write off Dobey as his best form is very strong, but Van den Bergh plays to a better standard more often. The Belgian is the 1.44 favourite, Dobey 3.00 and the bookies have called his right. I very nearly made Van den Bergh an outright selection and a return to the venue where he won the World Grand Prix in late July 2020 might well be a positive mental association for him.

PDC Masters 1st Round: 2 points Van den Bergh to win -1.5 legs @ 1.73 with Hills, Boylesports

Krzysztof Ratajski vs. Simon Whitlock

These two met in the World Championship and it was Ratajski who was the comprehensive 4-0 winner. The Polish Eagle reached the quarter final, his best performance in a PDC major. His career has followed a nice, steady upward path in the last two or three years and he hasn’t reached his peak yet.

Whitlock may be in the Autumn of his career, but it has been a very long Autumn. He is a player whose love for the game just keeps on motivating him. He still wants to play, and he still believes he can win titles. Whitlock played some great matches last year, notably two big wins over MVG and was semi-finalist in both the Grand Slam of Darts and the World Grand Prix. His best game is still world class but producing it over an entire tournament is the hard bit. The Wizard has lost his last six first round matches in this event and he is the 2.38 outsider for this match.

This is Ratajski’s tournament debut as he has moved into the world top 16 for the first time after his good run in the World Championship. He is the 1.62 favourite and the bookmakers look to have called this one right.

Michael Smith vs. Adrian Lewis

Two of the most frustrated players in darts. Lewis is a two-time World Champion, a four-time World Cup winner, a European Champion and a UK Open Champion. The problem is that those big wins are well in the past. His last major singles title came in 2014 and his last PDC title was in 2019. He has won three floor event wins in the last five years.

There was a back injury which required surgery but mostly he has become frustrated by playing quite well at times, but still losing. He missed the World Grand Prix due to picking up the virus and another disappointing season saw him drop out of the top 20. It is getting harder to see a way back for him.

Michael Smith had gotten as far as number four in the world rankings, without winning a major title. That is testament to his talent but highlights his weakness. He struggles to hit the doubles when it matters in the crucial moments of big matches.

Still No Major For Bully Boy

Another year without a major has seen him drop to number 9 in the rankings. Not a disaster but a sign that he continues to be under great pressure to finally get over the line in a big one. This may not be a major in many people’s eyes, but it is a televised title, and he would love to win it. He lost in the deciding leg of the final here last year, another bit of scar tissue to add to the collection.

Smith lost his opening match at the World Championship and he went down too easily. It was almost like he was expecting to lose. He was defending a load of money and he just threw the towel in, losing 1-3 to Jason Lowe.

Smith is the better player these days (his scoring at the Players Championship finals was 102 across four matches), but his confidence is always paper thin and if Lewis can find his A game, he is not without a chance, but if there is one player who is more frustrated and lacking confidence than Smith, it is Adrian Lewis.

Heavy Hitters

Both players are fairly prolific 180 hitters. The bookies make over 8.5 legs to be a 1.40 shot so they are expecting a reasonably close match in this first to 6 format. These two met in this event at the quarter final stage last year, with Smith the comfortable 10-6 winner. Over 5.5 180’s is a 1.83 shot and there isn’t much juice in that price.

There might be a bit more in Adrian Lewis to have the most 180’s. Smith hit more per leg than Lewis in the players championship events last year but in their last five televised matches, it is Lewis who has hit the most maximum’s in the last four (4-2 here last year). Lewis is the 3.50 outsider, and he is worth a speculative punt.

PDC Masters 1st Round: 1 point Adrian Lewis to hit the most 180’s @ 3.50 with Skybet, Boylesports

Daryl Gurney vs. Jeffery de Zwaan

Daryl Gurney got his appetite for the game back at Ally Pally, playing much better than he had for much of 2020. His scoring was back, doubling good and while still not at his 2017 level, he wasn’t far off it. Superchin has yet to win a match at the Masters from three attempts but there is more at stake this year. He needs to try and win the tournament to get a Premier League spot, but more than that, he needs to build on his improved form at Ally Pally and set his stall out for the year ahead.

De Zwaan lost his first match at the World Championship, the Players Championship, the European Championship, his last three televised events at the tail end of 2020. His A game is superb, but we haven’t seen it for some time.

Daryl Gurney is the 1.66 favourite with De Zwaan at 2.50. That looks about right. These two have not tended to have many close matches in recent years and if Superchin is to win, he may well do it with something in hand.

PDC Masters 1st Round: 1 point Daryl Gurney to win -1.5 legs @ 2.07 with Unibet

Jose de Sousa vs. Jonny Clayton

These two last met in the European Championship finals with Clayton winning 10-6 and both averaged 98. That will be down to De Sousa’s weakness of not doing the right thing at the right time at times. His poor counting and unusual out shot combinations can trip him up some times, as it did against Merv King in the World Championship.

Jonny Clayton has won five of his last ten matches, not being able to string two wins together. De Sousa’s form dipped a bit after winning the Grand Slam of Darts but he had a great 2020 season and moved to 15^th in the world rankings, three places ahead of Clayton.

De Sousa is the 1.53 favourite with Clayton at 2.62. Given that recent win against De Sousa, and in a first to six format, The Ferret might be the value here. He isn’t one of the ‘big names’ and De Sousa has become something of a fan favourite so maybe the bookies are going a bit short on the Portuguese star. De Sousa deserves favouritism but to that degree? De Sousa has won eight of his last ten however and he is hard to take on and there is little of interest in this match.

Joe Cullen vs. Stephen Bunting

Two players who came out of the World Championship feeling a lot better than before it started. Bunting reached the semi-final and was delighted to be back near the top in the biggest event of all. His ranking went up to 17^th, just outside the top 16, and who is number 16? Joe Cullen. That suggests a close match between two players feeling confident.

Joe Cullen won two titles last year and is starting to look like the player he always thought he was. I was never that sure, but results can’t be argued with. He had a terrific match against MVG at Ally Pally. He may have lost 3-4 but it was a great performance and Cullen hit no less than 19 maximums.

I really didn’t want these two to be playing each other in the first round as both looked capable of being dark horses for the title. The draw was bad for both and the winner gets to play MVG in the second round. Hopefully both players can bring their Ally Pally form and we can have a close match.

Joe Cullen is as low as 1.57 with some bookies, but a best price of 1.80. Bunting can be backed at 2.38. Bunting has won their two most recent meeting 6-2 and 6-3 and is 4-2 up in the H2H’s.

PDC Masters 1st Round : 1 point Stephen Bunting to win @ 2.38 with Betvictor

PDC Masters 1st Round: 0.5 point Bunting to win 6-5 @ 7.50 generally available

-JamesPunt